Danse Macabre
by JolieK
Summary: One night, a young boy named Sanji is saved by a green-haired pirate. He and the Straw Hats take him under their wing. AU.


Summary: One night, a young boy named Sanji is saved by a green-haired pirate. He and the Straw Hats take him under their wing. AU.

Pairings: None, just good old nakama-ship.

Warnings: Child abuse, cursing.

A/N: This is basically Zoro and the crew becoming the guardians of chibi!Sanji. The crew is very involved with little Sanji, all the same age as in the series. I'll try to keep it not OOC. Zoro and Sanji won't bash each other as much. Sanji is about six.

A/N 2: My first OP fic. I honestly don't know if I'll continue this. It's just an idea. Also, my grammar sucks. Point it out and I'll fix it.

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><p>He was running as fast as his little legs could go, and they had that deep, burning feeling. But he had to get away, he promised his nakama that he would. He had never ran from the home before, but he saw a rare opportunity that day and took it. He just wished he could take the other children with him. The dirt road in front of him began to blur as his eyes filled with unwanted tears. The thought of Haruhi, Izumi, Kiyoshi, and all of the others who had been nice, a slight glimmer of hope for him while living at the hellish home, pushed him over the edge and made his head throb with a mixture of emotions.<p>

"SANJI! Where are you?" the yell was angry, coming from Master Takehiko, who was tall and strong, usually the one who pushed the blonde boy around. Sanji picked up his speed. He was the fastest runner at the home, and he was putting it to good use. He was barefoot, loose stones on the road digging into his feet, making them bleed. Bloody footprints were leading them straight to him...Sanji needed to get somewhere busy. He almost tripped over his too-long pant legs as he veered into a crowded shopping street.

Sanji automatically felt the difference in terrain; the cold cobblestone felt much better on his feet, it was flat and had no ragged rocks that dug painfully into his soles. He couldn't enjoy it very long, another shout was heard above the hustle and bustle of people looking for the best deals that night. To Sanji's frantic mind, the loud voices of excited customers were diminished to only whispers.

Sanji pushed through the crowd of people with his little fists which were hidden amongst the long, itchy sleeves of his sweater. He had the sleeves rolled up before, but they kept slipping down. Sanji ignored the people who scowled at him as he continued weave his way through the seemingly never-ending crowd.

Hearing another shout, the tears that had earlier filled his eyes finally spilled over, wetting his face quickly and making his vision one giant blur. A wave of dizziness and weakness hit him full force and Sanji nearly fell flat on his face. He couldn't remember the last time he had food...

_"Sanji-kun! What's wrong?" Haruhi said to the blonde boy, who was just dragged by one of the Masters into the sleeping quarters. Her eyes filled with tears when all she received as an answer was a groan and a deep rumble from Sanji's stomach, which reminded him of the torture starvation was putting him through. He wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to hold on. He had to be strong for the girls..._

_"You gonna cry over him? You both are babies! Babies!" Soskue, the oldest of all the children, teased. Others joined in the chants. Haruhi pushed her fists into her big brown eyes, as if she was trying to push back the frustrated, angry tears._

_"Shut up! All of you!" he heard little Kiyoshi scream, even though tears were falling down his face. The three-year old clutched his dirty stuffed bunny for dear life, and nine-year old Izumi grabbed his hand and rubbed his back, trying to soothe the child. Laughter and sobbing mixed together in the room as Sanji sat up and placed a gentle but shaking hand on Haruhi's shoulder._

_"I don't like to see girls cry, Haruhi-san. You shouldn't cry because of me. I'll be okay," he said, a wide, reassuring grin on his face. His visible blue eye shone with something Haruhi would later describe as determination and his curly eyebrow, an odd feature she always liked on the younger boy, was twitching, which meant Sanji was angry._

_"Leave us alone, Soskue," the little boy said, sounding surprisingly threatening for a six-year old. Soskue frowned, crossed his arms on his chest, putting on the pout that somehow helped him pull his way to favoritism with the Masters. He stomped to his bed and laid down on his clean sheets._

_Later that night, Haruhi, Sanji, Izumi, and Kiyoshi were sitting on one of the empty beds. The home was completely silent, finally giving Haruhi the chance to talk to her only friends in the home._

_"You guys need to promise me something," she said flatly. She was the oldest of the four, at eleven years. She had long ago taken it amongst herself to protect them._

_"What is it, Haruhi-chan?" Izumi asked. Kiyoshi nodded sleepily against Izumi's chest pulling his stuffed bunny closer to himself and sucking his thumb._

_The girl sighed, running her hand through her short, dirty brown hair and offering them a sad smile. Every time she looked at the three children in front of her, her heart sank. They were all too mature for their ages, especially Sanji._

_"If any of you ever see a chance to leave here, do it. Don't worry about the others, I will take care of them. Do you understand?" Haruhi said, getting looks from the others. She would never leave here until the other three did. She had a role, and that was to look after them, no matter what._

_"Haruhi-" Sanji protested._

_"I said, do you understand?" she raised her voice slightly above the whispers they held. Sanji's curly brow was doing that twitching thing again._

_"That is all I ask of you three. Run and never look back."_

And Sanji listened to her. It was the hardest decision he had ever made, and he wasn't sure if he was regretful yet. Despite how he felt, wanting to stay with his nakama and protect them, he obeyed her wishes because he knew just how strong the older girl really was, and he never broke a promise. He silently told her that he would get them _all _out of the home. One day.

Sanji looked over his shoulder as he continued to run. There was no sign of any of the Masters he had heard before. He slowed to a walk, letting out a shaky sigh of relief, still looking over his shoulder.

Suddenly, he walked into something...no, someone. He looked up as the large figure turned around. His eyes widened in fear. The man he had bumped into was tall, and had muscles that would make you shy away from him. Unruly, green hair topped his head and a mean but exhausted look was across his face. It was as if you couldn't tell whether or not he wanted to kill you or take a nap, maybe both. Sanji cringed at the three swords sitting at the man's hip.

"Oi, kid, watch where you're going," he said in a deep, baritone voice that sent chills down the six-year old's spine. The man looked down at him and, noticing the bloody feet and obvious malnutrition, his eyes widened.

"What happened to you?"

Before Sanji could run around the man, Master Takehiko's voice boomed loudly, much closer than he was before. Sanji looked up at the green-haired man and grabbed onto his pant leg with a desperate grip.

"Help me, please," he said, just loud enough to for the swordsman to hear.

The swordsman wasn't a fool, and it was hard to ignore the abused child's plea. He took the child's hand without hesitation and lead him into the nearest alley. He gently pushed him behind some crates and put one finger to his lips, signaling the boy to be quiet.

Sanji nodded, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping skinny arms around his legs. The swordsman then leaned against the wall of the entrance to the alley, slipping into a casual appearance.

Master Takehiko approached the man.

"Have you seen my child? He's about yah high, blonde hair covering his right eye, curly eyebrow. He's lost. I'm worried sick!" the Master was putting on a pretty convincing facade, but the swordsman saw right through it. He was tempted to draw one of his blades, right here in the front of this crowd and put the bastard in his place, but he gritted his teeth and pointed in the opposite direction.

"He went that way, sir," he said, looking sympathetic, "I hope you find your son," he added.

"He better _hope_do..." the Master grumbled, running in the way that the swordsman pointed. Sanji came out from his hiding spot once he saw the Master disappear into the thick crowd.

"T-Thank you," Sanji said shyly, looking up at the man. He was going to walk away, but the man's voice cut through the air, stopping the blonde boy in his tracks.

"You're injured," he said, "and it's cold." Sanji hadn't realized at all just how cold it really was until the man had said so. He now noticed that he could see his breath in front of him and the warm-looking coat the man was wearing.

Sanji didn't know what to say. The swordsman's tan nose suddenly crunched and his brow furrowed. He was thinking hard about something.

"You should come back to my ship..." he said, slowly as if he was unsure of what he was saying. "We have a good doctor. And food."

*Wait...this guy is a pirate?* Sanji thought. The Masters had raised him to hate such people. They were cruel. They were sinners and they would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. But there was something different about this one...even the mention of food made Sanji's stomach loudly grumble, why was a pirate reaching out to help some kid? He put a hand to his protruding ribcage and frowned. Should he trust the man with three swords?

Suddenly, a warmth engulfed Sanji, and he saw that the man had put his coat around his thin shoulders and was wrapping it around the boy's small body. Blue eyes met brown.

Sanji saw many things; pain, longing, and...trustworthiness. He knew he should go with him. He wanted to go with him. That annoying voice on the back of his head was urging him to go.

Nodding his agreement to go, Sanji took one step and nearly collapsed. His feet were bleeding worse than he thought.

"I'll carry you," said the swordsman, scooping the small boy up in his arms. Sanji saw a lot of scars on the muscular arms and wondered if he was making a mistake. But he was so warm...he snuggled deeper into the man's fluffy white shirt.

"I'm Sanji. Who are you?"

"Zoro."


End file.
